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View Winners → Operation Canteen Honored WWII Veterans of Arcadia
Arcadia Weekly Sep 03, 2020
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Volunteers urge the public to honor WWIIveterans for the 75th anniversary of the war’s end
By Grace Yee, Guest Contributor
On Aug. 15, the morning started with volunteers taping“Thank you” posters and singers practicing WWII songs. Team leaders gatheredtheir groups to go over the route of the WWII veterans that they would bevisiting.
It was called Operation Canteen, avolunteer-driven program designed to pay respect to veterans for the75th anniversary of the ending of WWII. While COVID-19 has altered thelives and celebrations of many veterans, this group of volunteers visitedseveral WWII veterans of San Gabriel Valley.
In a caravan of cars, volunteers, adhering toall social distancing guidelines, honored WWII veterans with signson their lawns and people cheering from the edge of their driveway, saying“Thank you for your service!” Songs from the era were sung such as “It’s Been ALong, Long Time,” and “I’ve Heard that Song Before” which brought tears of joyto the veterans as they sang along. The veterans’ families were all there withthem to honor them for their service for this big 75th anniversary of WWIIbeing over. These brave men and women fought for freedom, saved lives and wereinstrumental in freeing millions of people in Europe and the Pacific.
Local Arcadian and WWII veteran Sam Gallina said “I cannot thank you enough for doing what you are doing. It’s something that I never… it was the furthest thing from my mind.” Another local veteran, Rob Gutierrez, said “This makes everything we did worth it.”
Our dream was to honor the veterans forthe 75th anniversary of VJ Day. We hope that this encourages you totake action, even in the smallest way, in your own community. You can drive bywith signs, leave signs on their lawns, say thank you from a distance, mail a thankyou card, or even a phone call. These amazing WWII heroes don’t expect it,but they deserve it!
This is a great time to show that we rememberthem. It’s not too late! The official signing of the treaty marking theend of WWII happened on Sept. 2, 1945. Celebrate your heroes anytime fromnow until the end of September. These deserving heroes would bethrilled!
If you participate in #OperationCanteen, wewant to hear from you! Please contact Grace atoperationcanteen@gmail.com.
Please tag your posts with #OperationCanteen#75thVJDay. Instagram and Facebook, please tag @operationcanteen.
Let’s give the greatest gift we can give to thegreatest generation of our time!
